A visit to the Falls, heron detailing and other things

After Don's bench installation we went to the Falls of the Ohio across the river from Louisville,Ky. I have read a blog http://artistatexit0.wordpress.com which descibes all kinds of interesting characters as well as many unusual bird species (wink, wink) which are found only at the falls. I hoped to see evidence of some of what I have seen described on the fascinating blog but we came up empty. There are areas of irridescent sheen coming out of the sand. I thought this almost looked like smoke coming up from the stick

It was interesting to explore the rocks and discover the various fossils.

I have been adding and smoothing out the feathers on the herons breast. I use a soldering iron between the feathers to fill in little crevices.

I refine areas around the wing feathers with a knife.

I add details under the heron - as the heron will be on a base 6 feet tall the underneath will be easily seen so I want to give this area some interesting detail.

I feel the heron's neck is too long, so...

I have shortened it in photoshop. I'm going to think about it before I do anything drastic.

This is an otter and lilypads sculpture I did last year. I set it up as a fountain but I didn't have a pump strong enough for the effect I wanted. Then winter came (though it really wasn't much of a winter) and so I let the otter sit dry. Now that spring has returned I am trying the piece out just as a birdbath. I want to see how the piece does as far as maintenance with just still water. My earlier otter water features were just birdbaths, so I'll try it with this one as well.

A detail of the otter...

This is a little maquette of a job I am doing for my veterinarian. The doctor is checking out a puppy while the mother watches.

My first turtle crossing of the year.....